1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a terminal fitting including a wire barrel to be crimped into connection with an end portion of a wire.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-303526 discloses a terminal fitting with a connecting portion to be connected with a mating terminal. A wire barrel is disposed behind the connecting portion and is configured to be crimped into connection with an exposed core of an end portion of a wire. The wire barrel is crimped at a position where the leading end of the core projects forward, so that the entire wire barrel is crimped into connection with the core. Further reference is made to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-222815.
The leading end of a core that projects forward from the wire barrel tends to be widened and may bend up when a wire barrel is crimped into connection with an end portion of a wire. A retainer may be mounted behind a connecting portion of the terminal fitting to retain the terminal fitting. However, a core that is bent up behind the connecting portion of the terminal fitting hinders the insertion of the retainer to a proper position.
Automatic wiring harnesses and the like frequently use cores made of aluminum alloys instead of cores made of copper alloys to save weight and for other reasons. Oxide films of aluminum alloys are more difficult to remove than those of copper alloys. Therefore, measures need to be taken to prevent an increase of contact resistance. For example, a method may be employed for more strongly crimping a wire barrel. However, a core that is tightened more strongly is bent up more notably. Therefore a device for preventing the end portion of the wire from being bent up has been hoped for.
There have been also cases where a core loosens and a front end portion of the loosened core is deformed to become wider.
The invention is developed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to provide a terminal fitting and a connecting method allowing a proper connection to the wire.